My flight from Madrid to Lima was uneventful, but as usual, I could not sleep on the plane. After twelve and a half hours in flight, the plane landed in Lima, and I was glad to get off and arrive in Peru.
At immigration, I met a Peruvian gentleman who told me my immigration form was incomplete. He would not tell me where it was incomplete and made me go to the back of the queue and fill it in again. After checking with all the other passengers, my fellow travellers agreed that my immigration form was correct. I swiftly bypassed the immigration man I had previously seen and went straight through with no hassle. It would appear there are idiots in all ports of call in the world; their sole aim, it would appear, is to hassle and upset tired travellers.
The next step was baggage reclaim. My bag was first off the conveyor belt, so that was a bonus. As I went through to the arrivals lounge, I was met by a beautiful Peruvian lady, Rosario, who was to be my tour guide for the next two weeks. Unfortunately, eleven of the fourteen people on my plane, who were also on my tour, had their bags left in Madrid. After waiting another two hours for Peruvian customs to locate their bags in another airport, we continued to the hotel for a rest before we toured Lima.
In the afternoon, we toured Lima, visiting the Plaza de Mayor. Around the square were the Cathedral of Lima and the Government Palace. I didn't dare ask why, but the guards around the Government Palace appeared to have damaged guns and wine corks plugging the barrels.
The Monastery of San Francisco was a short walk from the square, and we looked around at this building and the catacombs below it. The Monastery was imposing and had a great library, but I found the catacombs quite dull compared to the vast catacombs I visited in Rome. The arranged bones made it look very organised and left me wondering if they had been laid out on display for tourists.
After a welcome drink back at the hotel, I went to a local sandwich shop for something to eat before returning to the hotel bar for a few beers. The majority of my fellow travellers had more bad news about their luggage and eventually had to return to the airport around 00:30 of day 3 to collect their luggage, not returning to the hotel until around 2:30 am.